About a dozen lucky friends of Gloria Perry wait all year for her eight-layer Hungarian cake, which has 24 eggs and lots of luscious chocolate frosting.

"They say they diet for it," she said, chuckling. "It's kind of a tradition."

She and her friends gather for dinner once a year to celebrate all their birthdays. "Then, we have the cake as a topping!" said Gloria. "We've been doing it five or six years."

Gloria was born in 1929 in New York City to Hungarian and Romanian parents. She learned to make the cake from her mother, who baked it for birthdays and special occasions.

"I am fortunate to have this recipe, because my mom did not measure or write things down," said Gloria. "I finally cornered her a few years before she passed away."

As an honor, Gloria named the cake after her mother: Amalia Torta.

"The cake is the type of European baking that's not available in this area," said Gloria. "It's not sweet, but rich. In the United States, sugar has been added to everything. So you're not tasting the delicious taste of the cake or the chocolate -- you're tasting the sugar.

"In European baking, you have the rich flavor of chocolate and the rich flavor of the walnuts."

Gloria and her daughter, Sora, use honey and maple syrup in place of sugar in all their recipes.

A Utah resident for 19 years, Gloria has lived in Payson for three years. Besides being a baker, she likes organizing, feng shui and horses. She is part owner of a 6-year-old quarter horse named Royal Sundust. "I still ride," she said.

With energy to spare, she dabbles in pastel painting and unusual ceramic glazes. She also studies dressage riding, trains her horse and is writing a workbook about horses.

If you've got boundless energy like Gloria and want to make her cake, be aware that, "It's an all-day affair to make it."

Amalia Torta

Plain Cake:

• 12 eggs, separated

• 12 tablespoons sugar OR 4 tablespoons honey and 4 tablespoons maple syrup

• 6 tablespoons cake flour

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 2 pinches salt

• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Nut Cake:

• 12 eggs

• 12 tablespoons sugar OR 6 tablespoons honey and 5 tablespoons maple syrup

• 12 tablespoons ground walnuts

• 6 tablespoons ground Zwieback Toast*

• 1 tablespoon cake flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 2 pinches salt

• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

*Available in baby food section of grocery store.

Filling/frosting:

• 6 squares unsweetened chocolate

• 2 cups sugar OR 2/3 cup honey and 1/4 cup maple syrup

• milk (enough to make creamy mixture)

• 4 egg yolks

• 2 pounds butter

Topping:

• 1 pint heavy cream

• 20-ounce can crushed pineapple

See B7 for directions for this once-a-year cake!